Hospitals to replace winter demand strategy with year-round surge plan

New figures show more people turned up to emergency departments in the warmer weather than last winter, as the State Government launches a new plan to combat rising hospital demand during our shocking flu season.

The State Government has dumped the traditional “winter demand strategy” for hospitals as new figures show more people turned up to emergency departments in the warmer weather than last winter.

Instead, it will launch a new plan to deal with surges in demand this horror flu season.

SA Health figures show 102,171 people turned up at major metropolitan EDs from June to August last year, when cold weather and respiratory illnesses traditionally have seen a surge in demand and a strategy to open extra beds.

But in the warm weather of January to March this year, 107,053 people arrived at major metropolitan EDs, forcing a rethink of how to handle demand.

Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade said demand is rising year-round including in what were previously regarded as quiet months.

“We know demand on public hospitals is increasing each year and what used to be seasonal demand is now year-round,” Mr Wade said.

“We treated almost 5000 more patients in the first quarter of this year compared to last winter.

“Facing this reality, we are changing the way we manage demand and patient flow in our hospitals by launching a new hospital demand management plan — we need to ensure there’s a range of strategies in place to manage peaks in demand, no matter what season or time of the year it is.”

SA Health Minister Stephen Wade. Picture: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Measures underway to ease pressure on EDs amid a horror flu season include:

OPENING the 10 bed Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at the RAH, with 10 forensic mental health beds due to open at Glenside in coming months;

OPENING 20 beds at the Repat site for long-stay patients, and 12 acute medicine beds at Noarlunga Hospital for appropriate direct admissions;

LINKING 100 patients who regularly turn up at Lyell McEwin Hospital to GP and community services in a pilot program, which has seen their presentations at the ED drop by about half from 343 in three months before the pilot to 164 since the program started in February;

LINKING more than 200 patients in the southern suburbs with enhanced out-of-hospital support through a pilot program with Royal District Nursing Service in an effort to keep them healthy at home rather than deteriorating to a point they need hospital care;

A CONCERTED effort to find alternative accommodation and support services for 32 long stay patients waiting for National Disability Insurance Scheme support who had a combined length of stay of 5225 days in hospital, or around five and a half months per patient, freeing up ward beds to ease the gridlock in EDs;

COMMENCING a new out-of-hospital mental health care program in the Central Adelaide Local Health Network;

FINALISING plans for new Priority Care Centres to provide patients with low acuity conditions an alternative to visiting an emergency department.

Mr Wade said the combination of additional hospital beds, hospital-avoidance pilot programs and community care alternatives were reducing pressure on hospitals.

He also announced a new online portal to keep the public informed of strategies to ease pressure on EDs which will contain preventive measures for the community in an effort to minimise illness throughout the year, as well as details of alternative care options for non-life threatening injuries and illnesses. Find out more at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au.